Queen’s new Rhapsody Tour is set to begin this week – and Brian May has provided fans with an update of their rehearsal progress.
Brian May is reuniting with Roger Taylor and current vocalist Adam Lambert for the jaunt, which launches in Vancouver on Wednesday.
The show will then travel to various locations across the US and Canada up until late August, with Asian shows pencilled in for January 2020. Australia and New Zealand follow after that.
Sharing a selfie to Instagram, May revealed that the group had successfully navigated the tricky process of their first “stagger-through”, and are now ready to take to the stage.
He wrote: “Tour Ready !!! Well, almost ! This is me about to perform our ‘Stagger-Through’.
“We’ve now put in 6 days solid production rehearsals for our QAL tour of North America and Beyond.
“Long days, hammering out new pieces of action – and interaction between us, the performers, and the massive and highly sophisticated beast which is our touring rig. Sound, lights, staging, moving parts, video content, magic tricks, monitoring, costumes, and … MUSIC !!!”
He added: “I was pondering today that it’s such a shame that the wonderful Beatles never got the chance to indulge themselves and their fans in such a fantasy. Touring life became uncontrollable for them after only a few years of massive fame.
“For us we’ve had 40 years or more to develop and continuously innovate – and the technical and artistic team we have around us is at the very top level.”
Adam Lambert will be back on vocals
Drawing on his recent experience meeting the likes of Buzz Aldrin, the musician added: “Having recently spent some time with some of those amazing men who actually walked on the moon, I can definitely see some parallels.
“What we do isn’t exactly rocket science, but it’s a similar situation, where what you see – the end result on stage – is the result of the work of hundreds of highly talented people.
“I’m hugely proud of this whole operational team. Best in the World for sure.”
Elaborating on the rehearsal itself, May revealed that despite last minute “train wrecks and arguments”, things are in very good shape.
“What’s the Stagger-Through ? Well in the theatre they would call it a dress rehearsal. It’s not exactly that for us, but it’s the time when we put together all the pieces for the first time, and run it, warts and all, as a continuous show in our private space,” he explained.
“Lots of stops for train wrecks and final arguments … but at the end of we can make a guess as to whether we actually have a show which works.
“I believe we do !! See you out there, Rockers !”
“So excited to rock N America w you once again Sir!” Lambert replied.
